LOS ANGELES—Lee & Associates is expanding its leadership platform once again. The broker-owned firm has named Michael Tingus chairman of the board at the L.A. North/Ventura office and promoted principals John Battle, Jim Fisher and Grant Fulkerson to the position of managing director in the firm's Sherman Oaks, Calabasas, Ventura County and Antelope Valley offices.

“I have been fortunate enough over my career to do transactions in the entire market, so I know the market well. We are a broker-owned company, and it is a really neat thing to tell someone that they have a chance to make a difference in this company,” Tingus tells GlobeSt.com. “As chairman, I will sort of be the face of the office and attend the presidents meetings. It was really an honor from my partners that they asked me to take on this role.”

The promotions are part of Lee's ongoing evolution, which included naming Jeff Rinkov as CEO earlier this year. “We have created an opportunity for others to aspire to being a leader, and I think that will bode really well for our current brokerage operation and I think it will bode well from the outside looking in,” Tingus explains. As we have grown, it has been a really interesting transition. We are all brokers, and we are in the trenches every day, so it is easy for us to see what we can do to make things better. I was on the expansion committee for six years, and I have been instrumental in a lot of other offices from South Carolina to Boise, and I am still working on offices in the Pacific Northwest.”

Aside from this being a moment for Lee & Associates as a company, it is also indicative of the office's evolution. The L.A. North/Ventura office started in 1994 with 11 brokers and has grown into four offices that service the North L.A. and Ventura areas. Tingus has been the president of the office since 2004, and Battle Fisher and Fulkerson have been topped-ranked brokers in the office for the past several years, making them ideal candidates to step into this new position.

“I believe the company's revenues will grow with this move,” Tingus adds. “Overall, I am going to be more affective back in the trenches. We will ad a few more brokers to each office, but we really aren't in need of more brokers, we are in need of more market share, and I know that we will capture a lot more market share over the next few years.”